Diving into the Wreck
by Teargarden dreams
Summary: Sasuke is a little bit damaged; Naruto is a sucker for that. (Naru/Sasu; drama, slice of life, romance. Shamelessly AU.)
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Diving into the Wreck  
**Pairing**: Naru/Sasu (main)  
Genre: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life  
**Rated**: M  
**Summary**: Sasuke was a little bit damaged; Naruto was a sucker for that. (AU, WIP)

**A/N:** It's been over a year since I've written any fanfiction, and I missed it so much that I just had to write something again...I hope I'm not too rusty. Credit goes to 000-hester-000 livejournal for coming up with the brill idea of Sasuke being able to really hold his Everclear. Seriously, hester's artwork is awesome - check it out. (Oh yeah, and I _know_ it's a freaking AU. Give me a break OK? This is freaking hard for me, I am way too attached to my AU's. Specifically my Japanese life in San Fran AU. ;-;. Sigh...by the way, Sakesan is an actual San Fran bar, if you're wondering. It's pretty awesome.) Anyway, as always - reviews are much appreciated.

* * *

**:::: 01 ::::**

The apartment was in bad shape. A lot of shit was scattered everywhere and he didn't expect that of him. But it didn't change the fact that Sasuke ended up being a spectacularly good lay, one of the best he'd had in a while.

The fact that he was four years older made things seem kind of weird since this sort of age difference thing, it had never really come up before for him. Although, Naruto couldn't really complain - was there reason to? He noticed it when he looked at his driver's license at the bar: 27 years old. It was a weird age, that one of in-betweens. Almost thirty, and here came with it everything you didn't want to happen, right around the corner - Sasuke said something like that.

"S'pposed to be when you have your Saturn return, age 27. You know how it goes." No, Naruto really didn't. But he listened anyway, and wanted to be interested. Sasuke had seemed a little like a geek when he walked in, with a really formal suit on and the tie sort of messed up, but he was way more relaxed when he was tipsy - Naruto had no idea what he was talking about, since he wasn't into astronomy or astrology or that kind of thing. He wasn't too different from a lot of the guys that came in throughout the week, haggard business and salesmen who needed a little break. But he looked startlingly young, and he was more than just 'good looking', the same-old same-old. He was a pretty striking guy.

As he loosened up a little, Sasuke got to talking a lot about space, and then something about the biology of earthquakes and a bunch of other bizarrely random topics when he'd had at least six shots of Everclear mixed with his drinks over the next hour and a half. He really liked the Everclear, tolerated it well - how quirky. (Cute.) He even seemed pretty smart even when he was half-drunk, which worked out perfectly. Naruto found himself attracted way too often to his opposites - those hardcore intellectual types. He couldn't really explain it, but maybe he was looking for someone to pick up the slack (seeing as he'd left college recently with a 2.4 GPA).

He thought about the whole Everclear thing - he really couldn't get over that. Why that liquor, anyway? It seemed pretty gross. When he'd first come in, he'd sat down right away, looking a little pensive. When Naruto walked over, the first thing he said was: "Do you make Black Sundays here?"

Really, he should've said:_ Um, dude, seriously - we don't want you passed out puking on our floor. _Since technically, Naruto wasn't even _supposed_ to let customers consume anything with a lot of Everclear, since it was basically classified as 'the really freaking strong stuff' on the cheat sheet with all the proofs underneath the bar. But then again, Sasuke had seemed a little tense when he'd come in, and they weren't really supposed to ever turn business away. (Plus, letting a guy like that go without at least getting his number had seemed like a pretty bad waste.)

Naruto originally wanted to warn him about how strong it was, but was surprised when Sasuke asked for his second drink without being close smashed after downing his first in half an hour. An unexpected pro, huh? He could hold his liquor - Naruto kind of liked that. So he decided to just let it go, sit back, and watch. But watch carefully.

When he got off a little early that night, Naruto had decided to stick around and try a little himself. He wasn't big on stronger drinks like that despite being a bartender, but he was feeling a little adventurous and in more ways than one. Underneath the privacy of the bar, he felt Sasuke run a hand against his leg just a _little _too close to his crotch. The liquor had made his stomach comfortably warm, and his head was warm, too; it was difficult to think, but he definitely thought about that, glancing at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye.

So he really was interested. That was all it had taken, really. Naruto made up his mind then and there - _my place, or yours_? He whispered it, giddy with this over an over the top secrecy, hand cupped against his mouth near Sasuke's ear even though the other bartender was rinsing off some dishes and no one else was around. Really, Naruto liked a little risk taking now and again - since sometimes first dates and all that stuff, it was just a pain anyway. Not as much fun.

Close to one-thirty the morning, they were heading back to Sasuke's apartment in a cab through the streets of Inner Richmond. Outside his place, Naruto couldn't help but press himself against Sasuke's body, even if someone had been around to look. Sasuke was really warm, despite seeming kind of small. It made it sort of difficult for him to put the key in the lock, which it made Naruto laugh a little against his neck while he kissed him there. When he was drunk, just about everything was too funny.

In the end Sasuke was anything but a geek, based on the way he gave fellatio. The blow job, it made sensations run through Naruto's body that were just short of electrifying, the Everclear making his head thick and pleasantly detached. He could kind of see why Sasuke liked this. It made everything straight-edged and really fucking_good_, but sloppy and almost surreal all at the same time.

How long had it been, six months, six and a half? He'd messed around a little with two girls since then, but it had been way too vanilla. Only a guy, Naruto had come to figure out, really knew what another guy wanted. Knew how to make him forget about work, the extra shift he was going to take this upcoming Tuesday night, the rejection letter from college. Naruto used to feel just a little bad about it, but with Sasuke's head between his legs feeling bad about his sexuality was the last thing on his mind. Everything sort of trickled away each time Sasuke worked at his cock, so it was totally fine. It was just - the best thing ever. (It always seemed so, in the moment - too bad it didn't last longer).

"Are - you like - the master of oral sex, or something?" Naruto had managed half-kiddingly, though he was unable to feel totally humorous when he was getting so close. He was making these little inevitable noises while he was trying to hold to keep from coming too quickly, which was a little embarrassing. But with the way Sasuke was deep throating him and making his hips jerk involuntarily, it made it easier to feel less inhibited. He hadn't been able to say answer, of course; but Naruto doubted he would have agreed or disagreed, or even seemed flattered if he could've talked at all. Nevertheless, Naruto was coming hard in just four or five minutes, legs shaking and his toes going numb, static filling his head, body going slack. He had seriously missed this.

So they messed around for real after that. And it was good - _really_ good, despite the haze that the booze put over Naruto's head and Sasuke's, too. At some point they'd passed out after they'd gotten really tired, but naturally Naruto couldn't really remember when.

The next morning, Naruto woke up to find Sasuke already half-dressed by eight, looking impossibly put together from having been so out of it - and from the way his head ached with fatigue along with the beginnings of a hangover, Naruto guessed that they'd fallen asleep way too late. More pressing was the sudden realization that Sasuke had really let Naruto come into his apartment last night, sleep over with him and have a few mind-blowing fucks, and then - he left before he did? It wasn't really reject material or anything like that; he'd just hoped that they could maybe fool around a little before breakfast or something. It was really too bad.

Sasuke walked over to the bed, grabbed a necktie out of his the bureau drawer. It slammed open and - yeah, it was uncomfortably loud...yikes. Naruto looked up from the pillow, rubbing his eyes a little. He noticed the tie fish printed all over it - tiny salmon swimming upstream against the blue.

"Have work. Late." Ah, yeah. So it was actually a week day. For some reason, he had it formulated in his brain that it was Saturday already (which was way too good to be true). Being a bartender was beginning to mess with his head - the really late nights and all of that, it was sort of taking a toll on him. If it was possible, he guessed that the job was making him stupider. But still, Naruto almost wished he could've at least...slept through this whole thing. The early morning exit and not really knowing whether to just keep lying there or try to cover his ass with a pillow or something while he rooted around the mess on the floor for his underwear. It was dangerously close to taking them flying off of a cliff towards the Awkward Valley of No Return.

Then again, wasn't this just a one-time thing? He guessed it didn't really matter, much.

Now that Naruto woke up a little (and transitioned from groggy corpse to the plastered living), he noticed that Sasuke actually seemed pretty freaked. His eyes were jumping all over the place, like he was a little manic. Seemed like he couldn't find something, but Naruto wasn't really sure how to help with such a massive, ass-kicking hangover making his head feel like it was going to implode.

So, he managed to give Sasuke a kiss before he headed out - even though he didn't usually go that kind of way with a one-night stand, he figured, why not? It had been really good last night. Maybe it would brighten the morning for him, something like that. It was all in good jest, and it wasn't hard to sneak one in when he was grabbing something off the floor (looked like a pager or a blackberry, probably what he'd been rooting around for).

It tasted just a little too much like stale Everclear. And Naruto didn't mind too much that he was probably tasting his own cum either. The idea of it would have usually grossed him out a little bit, but this time it wasn't as bad. Maybe because the liquor masked it, but he didn't care too much.

The door clicked shut while Naruto gave out a slurred sigh and half-question, "You never told me more about your... whatever return." No answer.

* * *

Like he expected it to be, the bar was _pret-ty_ damn dead for a Tuesday.

Actually, someone way, way up there in that great, heavenly oasis of cloud and sky must have really felt like screwing with his head, because there was an even worse turnout typical for an early week night. He wasn't even technically supposed to be here tonight, but he'd ended up stuck with one of the crappiest nights to work.

The usual drunks that managed to slink in from the cracks in the woodwork hadn't shown up. Some greasy dude and a slim guy with a brief case he'd never seen before were sitting at least twelve seats apart at the long stretch of bar. It was pretty inconvenient having to go back and forth between them to take orders, but they didn't seem to be the most...sociable of guys. He couldn't really picture them palling around or striking up conversation.

Naruto could feel an avalanche of a headache coming on. It was pretty remarkable that he'd even let himself work at a_ karaoke bar_ of all places to begin with after he left school last semester. Especially Sakesan, considering the fact that a lot of customers there got really wasted and thought it was hilarious to slobber around on the mic on stage, and sing for way longer than they should've been allowed. His boss, Manny, he didn't usually didn't kick anyone off the stage unless they were getting really wild, or taking too much time - that was what killed Naruto the most. It was easier when families came in, but most of the time guys would come in with their dates, and they loved to get them up there and have them sing these cutesy pop songs. It was pretty bad.

Lately business had pretty much sucked, and he'd yet to see someone really good come in here and take the load off of him for a while by singing something good. He knew Slim and greasy boy weren't going to humor him for a while either. But most of the time customers went straight for the Britney or Eminem _every single night_anyway, at least once, which was pretty much making his work life spiral quickly into nothing short of the horrors of a Junji Ito manga...so maybe it was good that they were just keeping quiet. Three months at this place, and it still hadn't gotten all all that much easier.

After a nice, boring half hour of service, Slim left without leaving a tip as a thoughtful farewell; greasy boy went shortly thereafter, but left some spare change. Naruto snorted and shoved all fifty cents into the tip jar. How gracious of him.

It wasn't hard to think about the rejection letter again: _Dear Mr. Uzumaki: Although we are happy that you applied, we regret to inform you that that San Fransisco State University will not be able to accept your application for our Spring enrollment this upcoming semester; please look into opportunities with us in the future, widen your horizons next year -_ all of that good stuff. It was just fluff that masked the fact that he wasn't going to get out of this awful job any time soon.

His life basically felt like it was at a standstill...because it actually was. To say that it kind of sucked wasn't strong enough, actually. Naruto could just hear his mother's voice in his ears: _if you leave, you'll never go back._Figured she was actually right, in a way.

It was almost a half hour to midnight, which meant less than two hours to closing, but he'd been there since six and the wait felt like an eternity. Naruto spent some time cleaning and re-cleaning shot glasses, then rearranging drink menu specials before deciding there was really no point in putting forth any more effort at doing anything for the rest of the night. His boss was busy anyway, enough to ignore him for a few minutes at least, judging by the screaming behind his office door in the back. Somebody probably screwed up the stock again, which was happening a lot lately.

Naruto sighed loudly, reclining back in one of the more comfortable sofas by the lounge area. The strobe lights were _way_ too bright in here. He wished he could fix himself a drink, since he really deserved it for covering yet again for that asshole Teru-so-and-so, or whoever he was tonight. Seriously...

He pulled out his iPhone, hoping it would numb a little of his mental anguish, or at least his overwhelming boredom for a couple of minutes. He was thinking maybe some jail breaker or a round of space ninja, but then again Shikamaru had always told him those kinds of things usually make your brain turn to mush -

The text was pretty clear in its entirety. The number, Naruto recognized only a few seconds after it came up on his phone. One new message, from...588-something. Huh.

He'd seen it only once, scribbled down drunkly onto one of the bar's napkins now shoved in the back pocket of his jeans, buried deep somewhere in a pile of laundry back at home. But something just connected in his head - Naruto got it right away. (_Sasuke_...? Seriously...?) Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he thought, if he could remember that. It was the message he saw next that made something clutch at his throat and feel more than a little sick.

* * *

_Had a good time last thursday. Am going to kill self, sorry. Wish we had talked since then. _(And then, as if an afterthought just before the message got sent-)

_You were nice._


	2. Chapter 2

_Intro: Since this is an AU fiction, you'll get to see a lot more of the backstory as things progress. Another reason why I found AU fitting in America is my inability to subject characters to an AU Japan with such a terrible mental health system. (Seriously... read up on it. They don't treat people with mental afflictions correctly at all.) Also, Sakesan is a real bar in San Fran, as shown by photos online, though I'm not sure if it's as crappy as Naruto feels it is [lol]. It's exactly where I would picture him to work as he struggles to get back to finish his last few semesters of college for his associate's. Anyway, happy reading! _

Summary: _'You're a little bit damaged, I'm a sucker for that.'_ In which Sasuke is the kind of guy you could give the world to and he'd still want to jump off of a bridge, and Naruto attempts to keep that from happening. Naru/Sasu. AU.

* * *

.Diving into the Wreck. (02.)

:::::::

It really was something - dialing 911, trying to trace where someone who may or may not have just made a suicide attempt was using just a cell number, having to to talk to the operator and hoping not to sound like a pre-pubescent dork or a girl about to burst into tears, because your voice was seriously cracking _that_ badly.

Quit the experience. Really.

It was definitely one of life's 'curveballs', one of those things that you never saw coming your way - a lot like his old high school physics teacher Kakashi used to say actually, right before he gave back term papers that could make or break your GPA with D minuses and F's to a lot of his students (including Naruto himself). Who ever knew _his_ words would seriously carry any weight in his life... it was pretty much the most current definition of irony Naruto could think of.

He'd formulated a plan pretty quickly, without even asking for an opinion about it from any of his friends: Go to hospital at visiting hours; say hi, and definitely sorry for not calling, and mistaking their sort-of-relationship for just a one night stand when it obviously meant more than a one night stand (maybe); and avoid family at all costs if family was hanging around. But Naruto had doubts about that one, he could just tell. Sasuke didn't seem like the most sentimental guy, despite being awesome in the sack. But he at least hoped that his family would still care, anyway.

It was probable that Sasuke had seemed a little less distant because he'd had more than a few drinks - way more than that. He had this freaky tolerance to alcohol, but after the fifth shot he was literally just - putty, stumbling around a little even on his way out of the bar, though most guys would've been that way by their second considering how high the alcohol content had been in those cocktails. Naruto had been feeling good too, he had been all hands-y in the cab back, couldn't help but giggle and mess around like a kid, he was that eager/selfish/horny. In short, he wasn't really one to talk about being an asshole, seeing as he hadn't considered him much in the days they'd been apart besides about how much of a mind-blowing lay he'd been (and how awkward it would be to try to contact him to just mess around again, if he could recover his number).

But if he thought about it, Sasuke had flown out of there that morning and he hadn't called either. So was it really entirely his fault? Romantic interest, or at least a little lust, it was a two-way street. At least, that's how Naruto saw it. Until the essential death threat he got from him Tuesday, Naruto hadn't heard from Sasuke once despite having giving him his contact info. And now it made him feel awful, since he wished Sasuke would have tried to contact him again.

Maybe it was why he was here now. Naruto finished his cigarette. He took one last drag before flicking the butt into the grass and crossing the street from the hospital parking garage to get to the building's main entrance.

* * *

As Naruto walked towards the entrance of the hospital, he couldn't help but think back to how this whole clusterfuck, for lack of a better word, started off. He wasn't really _mad_ about it or anything, but it had really drained the life out of him. When he got that message at work (and re-read it about ten times gaping a little like an idiot, if he was being honest with himself), he'd done just about doing everything in his power not to have a something just short panic attack then and there. He never had anyone send him a message that made him want to jump out of skin so badly - was it serious, a joke? _What the fuckity fuck?_ his brain had screamed. In the end, his gut told him that Sasuke probably wasn't kidding, and that he should call the police.

Manny was surprisingly understanding about the whole situation - but then, he really had no other choice but to be understanding about it, considering that someone had just texted his employee a sidelong suicide note. He gave him fifteen, which was a huge relief. There wasn't really a lot of time - the message was sent over 25 minutes before Naruto had picked up his phone, so who knew what was happening by then?

After making the call and managing to tell the operator everything he knew, he'd had no other option but to keep manning his post at the bar. But it was tough. His heart was still jumping around all over the place, and he felt a little sick. But what could he really do then? He would just have to wait to see if things would be OK. He'd slipped his phone in his pocket, since he just felt uneasy leaving it in the drawer beneath the counter where he kept his wallet. Only one other guy came in during his last hour, with a girl who looked a little worse for wear and kept complimenting him on a bowtie he wasn't wearing by her second martini. Dealing with customers became almost excruciating, and not just from boredom anymore. He couldn't help but try to avoid seating anybody where he'd first seen Sasuke the other night, the last seat at the bar further away from the lounge.

Right around closing, someone from the station called back like he'd asked them to if they could, since he was apparently Sasuke's 'closest childhood pal' now. The guy on the phone said that his 'friend' was in the hospital and that he'd been found safely. Naruto had been relieved, but still a little nauseated at the idea of what what could've gone down if he hadn't decided to slack off for a little while during his shift.

After he went home that night, he tried to sleep off the whole thing but he felt way too awake for 3:30 AM. He couldn't help but think to the future, about when he could maybe just... go see Sasuke, he guessed. It made sense, didn't it? The guy from the station said he'd been taken to UCSF. The fact that Sasuke had contacted him right before... whatever he had done, it was really eating him up inside, no matter how much he tried to think about something else, it was just _there_ in his head. (There had to be a reason, didn't there?)

And so, he headed out that next morning before he could change his mind. Naruto had always been a little impulsive, anyway. But maybe it wasn't too much of a bad thing.

When he finally went inside, working up the courage a little to pass through the automatic doors, the place was _huge_. Naruto had only ever gone to Saint Francis as a kid when he broke his elbow skateboarding and had to get a splint put on, and once a few years ago when some bad sushi gave him some shaking fits. The place was so busy that it took Naruto a second to figure out _what_ he was exactly doing.

He considered going back outside for another smoke, or taking another quick drive before coming back later; but then, that would basically be one step below pussying out, and he wasn't going to let himself do _that_. So, he walked over to the front desk and asked for Sasuke. The nurse was a lot friendlier than he would've expected. Apparently, Sasuke was in the psychiatric care center, and that wasn't even _in_ this building. OK, so maybe there was a reason to pussy out now. Would he even want anyone to see him, in a place like that? Then there was the fact that they'd only met less than a week ago, didn't really know much of anything about each other, besides that they liked just messing around. Closest childhood pal - it really was a great lie.

(_You were nice._)

Fuck.

He put his hands in his pockets. It was one of those 'it's now, or never!' moments you see all the time in movies, though far less cool. He walked over with the nurse towards the entrance to the next building adjacent to the main one, where psychiatric patients were kept.

* * *

The doors closed shut with a small hum after Naruto got off of the elevator. Then, he was alone.

Even though it was probably too late to do anything about it, Naruto briefly wondered if he should've seriously brought a card or something to lift Sasuke's mood. You usually did that when you went to see people, right? (Or maybe it was when you couldn't go to see them?) All he had with him was a deck of cards to fool around with, and he felt lame for still seeming like a kid even though he made this valiant effort to really be an adult.

Then again, bringing a gift or a get-well greeting was actually kind of stupid. They weren't two _queens_ enamored with each other and living together just yet, so roses and cards were too much - that actually brought kind of a smile to his face. And if he really thought about it, what good would anything like that do anyway, for someone who had just tried to end everything? It was true, he couldn't avoid it. The cards would probably be alright. He could only have hope.

Just ahead there was a small waiting area; and beyond that, there was a locked metal door. He had to show his visitor's badge and put a lot of his things in this little plastic tub: car keys, phone, wallet, pen, keychain. He walked with one of the nurses, waited for her to unlock the huge door with a keycard. It slammed shut behind them as they went on ahead towards the patient rooms.

Sasuke was 'receiving determination for release' the day after tomorrow - the nurse said something technical like that when he asked about it. Apparently people here were sent home just depending on what the doctor thought. If they felt better, they could go home in a few days. It still wracked Naruto's head that Sasuke was even here, had been here for at least two days.

Somehow things became a whole lot more real when he saw a guy in hospital gown being taken to a room nearby, not looking all too hot. After that the hall was empty, and pretty quiet... it was sort of eerie. Sad. When they got to room 423 and the nurse knocked twice before opening the door, Naruto was actually a little relived to go in. (Go figure.)

* * *

He wasn't on suicide watch anymore, hadn't been for over a day, which was good. Definitely a good thing, sure.

But there was still way too much rattling around in Naruto's head. For a second, he wondered why the hell he was even here. Maybe it was dumb of him to show up. He had this really awkward sense of self-doubt wash over him that made it impossible to look at Sasuke when he first went in, like he was about to ask him to the prom or something and was having second thoughts. God...

Then, he finally remembered that he had come here for a reason - maybe to help him feel better, at least - and not to just stare at the ground like a child. He walked over and sat down in the visitor's chair closest to the bed.

A social worker was right outside the door and could probably hear everything they said, since it was left ajar. Apparently, they didn't really want Sasuke to be totally alone. It made things about fifty times harder, but Naruto forced himself to get over it. It helped that Sasuke was reading an issue of Psychology magazine, propped up in bed. He seemed pretty tired but into it. The whole thing was really ironic and just a little bit funny.

Maybe he should've...hugged him or something? But Naruto didn't think it was really appropriate to do that. So he taped his fingers against his knees, waiting for Sasuke to look up at him.

"So...how are you feeling?" Naruto asked. His own voice sounded foreign to him, and maybe he should've asked if it was really all right for him to be here right now. Sasuke flipped through four or five more pages before tossing the magazine down onto the bed. He still wouldn't even look at him! And Naruto had thought he was being bad earlier. He almost felt like a total idiot now; it seemed like he was being told in a sidelong way to get out -

Except then Sasuke was reaching out and leaning over, not really to look at him, but to pull him closer to the bed. At first it seemed like he had wanted to hold hands, but then it became obvious. Almost like a little kid too tired to use his voice when wanted something from his parents. He had this really distant and sort of foggy look in his eyes, and it made Naruto's stomach jump around a little.

He swallowed thickly. Got up and sat on the bed. It wasn't all that uncomfortable. Stupidly, he just said what he was thinking, maybe because there wasn't that much else to say. "Not all that uncomfortable - um, the bed I mean. I thought it'd be like a brick or something. That's how it used to be when I went to the hospital." That was true. He also thought about telling how badly Saint Francis was of a hospital and how he was pretty lucky to be able to go here instead, but it probably wouldn't have helped anyway.

"Ah," Sasuke managed. He stared at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Maybe he was regretting asking Naruto to sit with him. He probably noticed that the door was open, so maybe it was why he wasn't talking that much?

"You should put your legs up." Sasuke was pointing. Again, the little kid stuff. It was a huge change from what he had seen the other night, and the thought simultaneously made his stomach hurt and his heart beat unevenly. His legs were actually hanging off the mattress kind of awkwardly, he did have a point. Naruto put his legs up on the bed half-way, careful not to step on the magazine. The silence was uneven, interrupted by a couple noises down the hall and the sound of footsteps. Then, silence again.

"Well...you don't mind that I came by I guess, right?" Naruto managed to get it all out past this weird anxious lump in his throat. Sasuke just looked at him, really looked at him for the first time in the eyes since he first showed up. It was kind of unnerving but, the way his face seemed pretty peeked made him look more vulnerable than mad. And it wasn't actually a no.

"To be honest, I don't understand why you sent me the message. I can see why maybe you'd even be pissed off. And, maybe it wasn't even my right to be really worried like I was but - uh, not that I _minded_ worrying, or anything like that, don't get me wrong." Ah, shit. He was pretty bad at doing all of this, whatever it was. But least he said what he felt.

Then, they didn't talk about anything for a little while. But twenty minutes went by too fast and he knew visiting hours would be over soon. It was evident that he really wasn't going to figure this whole thing out, but maybe he wasn't even meant to. Looking at the way Sasuke's face seemed like a sheet in the hospital lighting made him sad, and he wished he could touch him even more.

So Naruto finally said what he wanted to, probably, all along. It really made virtually no sense, and he was probably being an idiot for asking. But as usual, he said what he wanted to despite logic, anyway.

"After...after this whole thing is over would you - would you want to go out again sometime? I don't know, to just do something." Fuck, it was rushed and it sounded pretty close to moronic but at least he _meant_ it. He really did, and it even kind of surprised himself - it would be different than the last time, too. Not just messing around from too much Everclear, just touching. It could be different. Maybe the idea would help him a little to try to get better.

Against all odds, Sasuke leaned back, cleared his throat. Now that Naruto listened, his voice seemed kind of strained. "Sure. I guess." So that was how things went between them, the social worker still on the outside of the door, neither of them fully caring if she heard. And it really was all that easy, on the surface.

* * *

A/N: So, Naruto has a secret sappy streak for even casual flings...who would've guessed it? I injected some sarcasm into that if you couldn't tell. Kishimoto made Naruto too easily attached to those who are damaged and/or obtain his interest in the series [specifically with we all know who]. Anyway, reviews are always appreciated.


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